A Surprise in Russia (Rewritten)
by Eli H. Lee
Summary: (Rewrite of A Surprise in Russia) After having two cousins of Alex's and a friend of theirs join the circus before heading to Russia, Vitaly the tiger becomes suspicious of this Rosella. Something about her eyes just doesn't seem right. Be invited onto a tour with adventure, romance, and family as Vitaly learns about the lioness who conjures spirits... wait, what?
1. Chapter 1

Well…. I am rewriting A Surprise in Russia…

Why you may ask?

Author improvement thingy.

Now, for those new to this, I am leaving the old A Surprise in Russia out just for you guys to compare if you want to.

Also, I changed my pen name if you haven't notice.

Eli H. Lee

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><p>Six months since the zoosters joined the circus have past, and by all means, it almost felt normal. Yes, having new members of the circus, all who were from a zoo, felt normal to the other animals. They had already toured much of America and are now actually doing their third trip from city to city. And with the six past months, couples have bloomed and grew. There were the elephants, Gloria and Melman, Alex and Gia, Julien and Sonya (a mystery on why to this very day), and Marty and the triplets.<p>

Vitaly thought on all of this as he practiced his knife throwing, the train heading towards St. Louis. The elephants, Maria and Harold, everyone knew about them and their unborn calf at the moment. The triplets all with Marty seemed odd at first but given the triplet's behavior, it wasn't much a surprise really. Julien and Sonya were just…. Odd, plain and simply really. Sappy even on Julian's part. Gloria and Melman were thinking of adoption during this third trip and Vitaly could already see that their relationship was caused by being childhood friend in the beginning.

On that last thought, the Siberian tiger threw his knife with more force than the others before hand, slightly jealous that he no longer had that.

And then Alex and Gia… Oh Slavic Gods, out of anyone his little Gia could have picked to be in a relationship with, it had to be Alex. Now, don't get him wrong, the tiger had nothing against the lion personally… ok maybe he did with the whole circus lie and all, so Vitaly still had some trust issues with the guy. Or more so, his species. And now he and Gia were dating….

Three more knives and a sword hit the wall.

Vitaly could only mutter something about the fact that it was so obvious that this was Alex's first relationship.

The tiger began thinking again as he picked up another sword. Actually in speaking, or thinking really, of the lion, he's been acting… odd lately. Even more odd than the Russian could actually think the lion as. The lion seemed to be keeping something from him actually… actually a lot of the members of the circus seemed to be hiding something now that he thought about it. Before he could think on it anymore though, Vitaly heard the door to his train car open to reveal Stefano with a wide grin on his face.

"I thought-a that you would-a like to know that we are-a only a day's trip from Las Vegas."

Vitaly raised an eyebrow as he folded his arms, staring at the sea lion in confusion. "Las Vegas? We vere supposed to be in day's trip of San Diego!" He said, only to get a confused expression from Stefano.

"But, Alice's cousins and their friend, they are-a here in-a Las Vegas and everyone-a has a talked about them being new members and-a, -Oh!" the brown eyes light up in realization. "Oh, Vitaly you didn't-a know? No wonder-a why Marty seemed to uncomfortable when telling-a me. But of course, I don't-a see why no one told-a you, except-a for of course that- Uh oh.." Stefano paused before hurrying out of Vitaly cart, the reason being Vitaly's expression of shock and confusion rapidly turning into one of anger.

**"ALEX!"**

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><p>Yeah…. Alright, I only own OCs here, again.<p>

And I want to state something. One of the major changes I made to this story is Rosalina's (now Rosella) and Ayo's connection to Alex. While they are brother and sister to each other, both of them are now Alex's double first cousin.

I know this sounds like a strange change, but I want to point out something. And it has actually been on my mind for some time when I was first notified of the small problem and when looking at other versions of Alex's other relatives. And let me make it clear, I _am_ very well aware that I may sound… a bit of a hypocrite, given the fact that I did place Ayo and Rosella in this position.

Alex having siblings. I know this doesn't sound like any sort of problem at first but then thinking also got in as well…

Would Zuba and Florrie really have had another child? Especially after losing one and not taking the risk of losing another? Really think on that. We fans have always made excuses for any Alex siblings we make, but have we ever really thought on Zuba's and Florrie's POV on the matter?

But then, when I decided to not do that during this rewrite for my old story, I then wondered two things: How else could the OC lion I had be related to Alex like I wanted still wanted them to? And who would be Zuba's and Florrie's heir if Alex wouldn't be? And don't act like you really thought Alex was going to be the future Alpha lion anytime soon. Yes, I also thought of it, but it actually makes more sense that he isn't next in line. For one, Alex _has_ been away from the reserve since cub hood, and who ever would be the heir after Alex originally probably would feel a bit cheated if Alex was to be the next Alpha. And we already know Alex and his friends weren't staying in Africa, no matter how many fanfictions we fans would make before Madagascar 2.

This is where the idea of cousins came into play. Lions are usually born in litters of two or three, with litters of one cub being rare. So, one _would_ assume that either Florrie and/or Zuba would have at least a brother or sister, or even more than one sibling.

Hence, Rosella and Ayo. (And yes, to those who read The Journey to The Pride of River Crater, Shani's relation is also changed.)

Also, other things about Rosella and Ayo, and of course other characters that were changed will be revealed in later chapters.

Also, I'm rewriting Rivals to Allies, which is my Rise of the Guardians story, and writing a Great Mouse Detective story while writing this one as well. So please, please, please, please, **please **do not ask me when my next update is. I am going to be rather busy with whatever time I get, and for about 10 to 9 more days, that's going to be very little time itself.

All I ask is for reviews.

Eli out.


	2. Chapter 2

I only own OCs.

Eli H. Lee

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><p>"<strong>ALEX!"<strong>

"Gia!"

The jaguar paused for a moment to see Alex running towards her and hiding behind her, Gloria, and Marty as Vitaly chased him.

"What's a going on?"

"Vhat is zhis about new circus members!?"

Silence fell upon all the occupants of the circus (that were nearby anyway) as they stared at the scene. Some looked around awkwardly, others moving uncomfortably. Seeing the giant tiger pissed off at this was something they knew would come, just not this soon.

"We… we couldn't have told you. We wanted it as a surprise," one of the dogs said nervously, a fake smile plastered onto his face. Vitaly held his glare as he gazed at all of them. "It's… eh… emm…"

"Ok, we were afraid that you'd take it the wrong way since two of them are also… lions," Marty admitted, looking to the side towards as he tried to look at Alex. Vitaly stood out straight and crossed his arms, his emerald eyes still narrowed.

"Stefano zaid zhe lions vere Alex's cousins," he growled causing everyone to look at the sea lion who chuckled nervously. Everyone else shook their heads before meeting Vitaly's gaze. Marty shifted uncomfortably.

Alex luckily spoke up a bit here. "I owed one of them a favor and my uncle and aunt both said that I had to make up for leaving Africa so soon," he explained, rubbing the back of his mane as the tiger raised an eyebrow before stomping off grumbling something in Russian under his breath. The lion leaned over to Gia's ear quietly, whispering, "Do I want to know what he's saying?" The spotted feline looked at her boyfriend with her amber brown eyes before shaking her head.

"Probably-a not."

"Ok then."

….

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas,

A young teenage male lion, with brownish gold fur and his preteen mane a light golden color juggled three bowling pins in his paws, his dark blue eyes gleefully looking over to his older sister nearby. She herself was a reddish brown gold with a dorsal stripe down her back. She had a long fur tuff that went over her blind eye while she watched her brother with her remaining good, indigo colored eye. She wore some bracelets around her wrists and a neck wrap decorated with beads and feathers. Unlike her brother, who had a rounded black nose, she had an angular rosy pink nose.

"How am I doing, Sis?" the brother asked, grinning as he went back to looking and concentrating on his juggling.

"Wonderful, Ayo, wonderful," she said, smiling kindly to the teenager before placing some vials in a bag. She held another one up, staring into the misty green contents. "I'm sure the circus will be glad to have you as a juggler when we join." Ayo looked over to his sister before catching the pins and skipping over towards her.

"What about you, Ro? Cousin Al did say that their tiger is a bit more to the traditional side, as well as," Ayo scrunched up his nose as he continued, "Russian." He looked up to Rosella, for that was her (American) name, as she thought.

"Probably dance, do a few charms to bring us luck and such," she said, causing the younger lion to look disappointed. She chuckled the moment she saw it though and ruffled her paw through his somewhat mane. "Don't worry, suga'," she said, giving what seemed to be a genuine smile in her southern accent. "I'll try and find a way to show off in the end. Family curse and all. Now go pack up your things or we'll forget something of yours… again."

As Ayo ran off to do so, Rosella's smile fade down to a true, sorrowful frown as she went back to her vials. "And hopefully before my monster takes ahold of me again as well," she whispered, gripping the last vial so tight that it broke in her paw, causing the glass to cut into it. She hissed painfully and quickly dropped it, letting the contents of what looked like blue smoke touch the floor as she went to bandage her paw. The smoke stayed among the ground for a moment before turning into small wisps trailing off into the darkness.

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><p>Yes, chapter 2 is now done. Wish me luck on chapter 3 and please review.<p>

Also, I am too lazy now to note differences. Good day and good night.


	3. Chapter 3

Only own OCs, I do.

Yeah… I shouldn't try to sound like Yoda anytime soon.

Eli H. Lee

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><p>When they got to their stop, the whole circus saw two lions and a golden furred, blue-green eyed female fossa waiting for them on the outskirts of the city. The young teenage lion who Alex introduce as his cousin Ayo carried a small bag over his shoulder with a Cheshire grin across his face, unnerving some of the circus residents. The lioness who was introduced as Rosella carried a huge box and bag within her paws. Aya, the female fossa, had with her a little box. A very little box decorated with feathers on the side.<p>

As the three newcomers were being greeted by the rest of the circus, Vitaly stood back and observed their behavior. Aya, while not able to speak prefect English, seemed to be very chatty, especially with Stefano, as she gladly told of the three's adventure of New Orleans to Las Vegas and the family of white lions that they stayed with while they waited for the circus to come1. Ayo was showing off his juggling act for the others while giving the same Cheshire grin. The grown tiger rolled his green eyes at this, getting the impression that the young lion was just as much as a show off as Alex, probably even more. Rosella on the other hand (or paw) actually seemed more distance, giving small, quick and uneased glances at everyone unlike everyone else. Vitaly perked up an ear when Gia held out her paw to shake the lioness's unbandage one only for the lioness to hesitate at the gesture. Her wounded paw also popped up question, the only answer she was giving being that she cut it on some broken glass.

All of the sudden, Rosella snatched her bag from one of the dogs who were trying to see what was in it and growled at them. Everyone stared at the scene as Rosella's fully black marked ears went back in embarrassment.

"I'm… I'm just going to put my belongings away," she quickly said, running off before anyone could say anything.

"What's her problem?" Freddie said, crossing his arms as he made a face. Ayo, no longer having his grin on, looked to which car his sister had ran off to as Alex leaned towards him and whispering something. Ayo nodded and shrugged at the same time.

Vitaly also looked to see which cart the lioness had took off and went into before seeing it was Gia's and supposedly Aya's. While everyone else was starting to go back to talking to the other two new members, which Vitaly thought was odd giving the question of why Alex and Ayo go after the lioness, the tiger went to go and tell her which cart of hers.

However when he opened the cart door, the Siberian saw the reddish brown golden lioness taking out small vials of odd liquids and… smoke? Ok, he had the idea that she was probably into… voodoo by her accessories, but this was really pushing his great dislike of such things. He coughed deeply to get her attention.

Her face lifted up as if in fear and he noticed that she shifted herself away from him. His eyes shifted to her blind eye and then to her wounded paw before back to her face in general.

"I.. I was just-"

"Vrong cart. You are closer to back of train," he said as she began to quickly pick the vials back up. One with a purple liquid dropped however and broke. Vitaly stood for a moment as Rosella seem to begin to panic as she picked up the pieces quickly and saving what of the liquid that she could. He didn't hear many stories of where 'magic' did any good, so keeping his distance was probably best. However one of the glass shards cut into the bandaged paw, making Rosella hiss in pain. He began to question in his mind if this lioness just happened to be Alex's sister instead of Ayo's and someone just messed something up around the time.

"Here, let me see zhe damage," he said, walking over carefully to her. When he nearly touched her though, she quickly cringed away, almost jumping to the other wall as she took short, quick breaths. "Vhat?"

"Hey, Ro, you should probably know that…" Alex stopped as he stood in the doorway, staring at the sight in front of him, Vitaly on his knees in front of some vials and his cousin holding her paw and cringing against the wall. It seemed to take only a few seconds to realize what had happened. "Vitaly, you probably want to leave."

"Vhy? And vhy is she-?"

"Just go, I'll handle this."

…

Rosella, after being convinced to let Melman bandage her paw, kept herself in her (proper) cart for the rest of the day and half-way through the next. In the meantime, plans for the show to get them to Russia were underway.

"So what is-a Rosella's act-a?" Stefano asked, as everyone, except the lioness in question of course, was gathered around the table that had the penguins and the plans. The penguins looked at the sea lion with raised eyebrows.

"Excuse me?" Skipper said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What's-a Rosella's act-a? Because-a Ayo is going to-a juggle and Aya is-a going to dance with-a Gloria and-a Melman, shouldn't Rosella get-a an act?"

"She doesn't have one," Alex said, earning stares from many circus members. Seeing this, the grown lion sighed deeply before explaining. "Rosella's not…," he paused for a moment as if trying to find the right words. "…Comfortable with crowds."

"Then why is she here then?"

Alex's silence took over as he glared at one of the dogs. "It's…"

"Complicated," Ayo finished, playing around with a small pen nearby.

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><p>1) I want everyone here to put in their reviews of who those white lions were. Just guess. Really. I'm totally serious on this.<p>

So that was the 3rd chapter and it is now two day until the next expansion for World of Warcraft comes out. Yay! Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Again, I only own OCs.

Eli. H. Lee

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><p>Gia snuck quietly in the night as the train keep moving. Unlike Alex, she was used to traveling on top of the train and was very familiar with how to get to one cart to another when still traveling.<p>

Her destinations at the moment were the following;

Check up on how Ayo and Vitaly were getting along.

Strangely enough planning of where Ayo was going to stay was still in debate as Alex had continually made it a fact that Rosella was going to have her own cart, though he wouldn't say the reasons. So, while things were still being figured out, Ayo would ironically be staying with Vitaly. The jaguar however wanted to make sure her adoptive big brother and her (technically) cousin-in-law were getting along well due to not only the fact that Vitaly has yet to actually put trust in any lion what so ever, but also because the teen lion also had a mistrust towards Russians (which she thought was an odd mistrust really).

Find any of Vitaly's hidden borscht, probably in the trophy cart, and dispose of it. The tiger was getting really depressed and Gia had a bad feeling he was back on the soup.

Check up and see if she could learn anything about Rosella.

Gia thought it was very odd that Alex didn't mention much of his family. Granted, she did make up a few theories why, with the first one being that he didn't have a happy cub-hood. But that was dumped when Marty told her that her boyfriend had actually just learned of his true family around a year before the ex-zoosters met the circus. In fact, from the lion's friends, Gia actually learned a lot more from another view of what he was like as well as what had happened before meeting him.

But Alex keeping secrets about his family was still somewhat odd to her, especially about these two cousins of his. Why only two? When the news came out of them wanting to come, along with a friend of theirs, Alex had revealed that he did in fact come from a rather big family, despite being an only cub himself. So why were only two cousin joining? And then Rosella having no part of their show also raised a few question to her. And why was it complicated?

Gia stopped and knocked on the top of Vitaly's (and Ayo's) cart before hearing a "Come on in" and jumping in.

"Ciao! I wanted to-a check up on how-a you two were doing," she said, smiling at both felines. The sight that greeted her didn't surprise her much on the other hand. Both males were glaring at each other from their own respective beds. Her smile faded and she sighed. "Look-a, can't-a you two be friendly?" Ayo, not Vitaly to one's surprise, grunted. "So you two are-a just going-a to just glare-a at each other?"

Both nodded in response. Gia sighed and shook her head. "At least…try-a to make-a conversation. Please?" And with that, the jaguar jump up and closed the top of the cart before moving on.

Both remaining cats stayed silent before Vitaly spoke up. "You know _durak_?" Ayo blinked before shifting uncomfortably.

"No."

"Come on, I'll zeach you."

…..

Strangely enough, Gia couldn't find any borscht. Either Vitaly hadn't any around for once, or he's gotten better at hiding them. Next stop; Rosella's cart, two carts away from the trophy cart.

…..

"Look, I know that he seems… threatening, but if you just give the members here a chance."

"Melba, please, I don't need this talk again!" Rosella covered her ears as she said this, trying to block out the Kongo loa that sat on the crate nearby. A black mamba in shape with an amber glow around her as well as having glowing, pupiless white eyes.

"Well you wanted to come here with Ayo and Aya, especially joining Alex here! The least you can do is be familiar with the circus members. Heck, the Gia girl is pretty much part of the family now!" Melba said, moving her coils so that it looked like she was crossing her 'arms.' The lioness huffed and crossed her own arms while looking away. "Malu-"

"Don't call me by that name!" Rosella yelled, glaring at the spirit. "You know well enough that I've grown to hate that name!" Melba waited as the lioness try to become less tense. A knock on top of the cart didn't help any.

Both paused until hearing Gia's voice saying, "Rosella?" The female in question tensed up before noting Melba's encouraging look. Sighing, Rosella said, "Come on in, Gia…" and urged Melba away before the jaguar entered. The loa shook her head and disappeared into a mist.

Gia smiled at Rosella when she jumped in, only to earn an unsure one from the other female. Looking around, the Italian took in Rosella's way of decorating her cart. "So, you-a are into the 'voodoo,' I see," she said, gazing around some more. "It-a looks very nice-a." The other feline raised an eyebrow at Gia's curiosity.

"Was there… err... something that you needed?"

Gia looked over at her, one of her ears twitching as she stared for a moment. "What did-a you wanted to-a do for an act?" Rosella looked away and played slightly with one of her bracelets.

"I… didn't think about it, really…. I'm not really good at anything… performancy." Gia's curious stare didn't lighten up, instead, the jaguar actually tilted her head and sat down as Rosella's words. "Besides… I.. I don't do well in crowds."

"Shy?"

"…Sort of."

"Why-a?"

Rosella looked up in surprise before looking towards the bookshelf that was in the cart. "It's…. complicated." Gia huffed and pouted as she crossed her arms.

"All of you-a keep-a saying that! First Alex, then-a Ayo, then Marty, then Melman, then Gloria,.." Gia went on listing the names in that annoyed tone as Rosella listened and leaned back against the wall. Ok, so this Gia girl didn't seem so bad. Maybe a little too curious for her own comfort, but she could see herself getting used to her.

"So what-a was Afrika like?" Rosella perked her ears as the new question. The indigo-eyed lioness thought for a moment, wondering how to put the words right.

"You, um… you know those movies they like to make? About everyone living in harmony and that?" she asked, earning a nod from Gia. "Well… it's not really like that. Sure there's… some areas like that, but there's not really a whole lot of them. Granted, you um… you probably might get a.. a better answer from Ayo. I'm a bit... biased when the topic comes up."

"Oh," Gia spoke becoming quiet for a bit before coming up with another question. "What-a about your-a family?"

"Let me put it this way, I'm the seventh cub between my … my parents, with one older twin brother, one older sister and four more older brothers. Then came Ayo and his three littermates… you already know Alex's my cousin, and," Rosella paused for a moment as if trying to think. "Shani and Lani are our two other cousins."

"That-a sounds like a lovely generation of-a the family," Gia giggled though the sarcasm was clear as day. Rosella nearly laughed before looking to the side again.

"Yes, well… to be honest, I really didn't… spend much time with most of them."

"Why-a not?"

"'Birds of the same feather flock together.' If… one were to think on that, then Alex, Ayo, and I weren't really of the same feather as the rest of the family… except for Uncle Zuba and Aunt Florrie, but that goes with events then." Gia leaned forward from where she sat, wanting to hear more on this.

"That-s is why from such-a big family only you and-a Ayo join circus then!" The statement this time made Rosella laugh.

"Yes, exactly. It… it's just easier being around Alex and Ayo compared to the rest of the family. Aside from family, not a lot of other lions would actually… like us, I guess. I mean, or one thing for sure, Ayo already put others on edge, and Alex… well, you're dating him, you probably already know how he likes to perform. And I was destined at birth to be in for bad luck…" Gia's ears perked at the last statement.

"You-a don't seem any different from-a other lions."

Rosella smiled at her genially this time. "Gia… I hope you never go to Africa."

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><p>Ok, now I really, really, should get to my other stories! ….<p>

Leave a review if you want more.


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